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Over the past year, B'Tselem has documented
eleven cases in which soldiers fired at and wounded Palestinian
civilians working in areas near the perimeter fence between the Gaza
Strip and Israel. In these eleven cases, the gunfire struck civilians
who, because of the lack of jobs in the Strip, were compelled to earn a
living by collecting building materials for recycling. The lack of
jobs has grown since Operation Cast Lead and following the continuing
siege on the Strip.

In none of the cases was an attempt made to arrest the workers, so it
is unreasonable to think they were suspected of engaging in actions
aimed at harming security forces or Israeli citizens; rather, the
gunfire was intended, apparently, to remove the workers from areas the
army considers no-go zones. In addition to the eleven documented
cases, B'Tselem and other human rights organizations know of dozens of
other cases.

These cases join a series of instances
documented by B'Tselem over recent years in which soldiers have fired
at farmers and demonstrators in the vicinity of the perimeter fence,
even when they did not present any danger. On 28 Apr... >>>